Video of teen bullying autistic child with handgun sparks outrage

A video of a child being bullied and having a gun pressed against his head has caused outrage and an investigation by local police.

The video was posted on Facebook by the victim’s aunt, who shared it with a local news station, looking for justice. “This is my 13 yr old nephew being bullied at gunpoint in broad daylight,” Becky Lea Sanders wrote.

This is my 13 yr old nephew being bullied at gunpoint in broad daylight… his mother took this video to the…

The video shows Derrin, who his mother says is on the autism spectrum, on his knees as he’s being taunted by what appears to be older teenagers. “You either kiss my feet or suck my d**k, n*****,” one teen can be heard saying, as another presses the muzzle of a handgun against Derrin’s forehead. The teen in front of him then demands that Derrin stand up, and begins punching him repeatedly. Throughout the video, Derrin tries to move away to safety and de-escalate the situation but is followed and assaulted again and again. Derrin later told his mother that the bullies also stole money from him.

Emily Bridges, Derrin’s mother, said that Derrin came home covered in bruises on Saturday. When she saw the video of what happened, she was enraged. She went to police, who she says initially dismissed her. “He just really said that they’re minors. There’s not a lot that happens to them,” Bridges said to Fox 4 KC. “They have to do community service. There’s not a lot. I should just keep Darren away from there and keep him at home.”

Things changed as the video went viral. On Tuesday, detectives began searching for 17-year-old Alexander Schader, the person believed to be the one pointing the gun at Derrin in the video. By the end of the day, Schader was in police custody, along with two other juveniles who were involved with the bullying but have not been identified. Bridges hopes the disturbing video of bullying will teach people a lesson, saying to Fox 4 KC, “I hope the other kids see this and see that those actions and those behaviors are not OK.”